Special Report: Iran Nuclear Crisis

    TEHRAN, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has slammed European countries for their policies on the Islamic Republic, saying they have always been under U.S. pressure, according to an interview published on Wednesday.

    "We can analyze Iran's relations with Europe both in the economic, political fields and the international cooperation, then we will see that Europe adopted inapposite and illogical gestures from the beginning of the revolution and has sustained those gestures," Mottaki said on Tuesday in an interview with the daily paper Kayhan.

    "Under the U.S. leadership, Europe has always put accusations which are against Iran in their list," said Mottaki.

    When referring to the alleged breakage of the good relationship between Iran and Europe by Iran's new government, the minister dismissed the allege, saying "European countries have never toned down their unfriendly approach toward Iran, and have always been covetous on Iran's markets with greedy and avarice."

    "These relations have always benefited the west and we have no break with them in economic relations," he stressed.

    The European countries are Iran's biggest trade partners, who import oil, carpet and some other agriculture products, such as pistachios from Iran.

    Commenting on Iran's sensitive nuclear issue and an attempt by the U.S., Britain and France to introduce a resolution in the United Nations Security Council to compel Iran to halt the uranium activities, Mottaki vowed that Iran would never give in to pressures.

    "We will never return suspension of the uranium enrichment work. It's very wrong some people believe the west could do anything it likes through the use of a tool called Security Council," said Mottaki.

    The foreign minister made these remarks when envoys from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany were meeting in Paris to discuss the current situations.

    The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei submitted a report on April 28 to the UN Security Council, saying Iran had ignored the council's non-binding demand to suspend all uranium enrichment by the April 28 deadline. The IAEA has prompted calls from Western powers for tougher Security Council action against Iran.

    Foreign ministers of five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China --plus Germany are scheduled to meet in New York on May 9 to discuss response to ElBaradei's report.

    Tuesday's meeting in Paris was meant to prepare the ground for the New York meeting of foreign ministers of the six nations.

    Iran announced in earlier April that it had produced low-grade enriched uranium by launching 164 centrifuges at the uranium enrichment facility in the central town of Natanz.

    That marked a technical leap in the process for nuclear power plant construction, which immediately aroused strong international concern.

    Iran has been insisting that its nuclear program is fully peaceful. Enditem